NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks believes he still has a lot to offer.
Cooks' urge to prove himself dates back to when he was selected by the Saints with No. 20th pick in the 2014 draft. Now, at 31, that urge still drives him as he heads into his second stint in New Orleans after signing a two-year, $13 million deal with the Saints last week.
Cooks played in 10 games last year with the Dallas Cowboys because of a procedure on his right knee that got infected. He ended up with 26 catches for 259 yards -- both career lows.
Cooks said his body feels "incredible" after a season in which he missed seven straight games from Weeks 5 through 11 due to the infection.
"I'm always investing in my body," Cooks said. "I got some injections, like Regenokine, stem cell. ... I look at it as maintenance. I was told it would be maintenance and wrong timing I guess. And that happened. And then I had to get it cleaned out from the infection."
Cooks was traded to the New England Patriots in 2017, just three years into his rookie deal.
The Saints sent him and a fourth-round pick to the Patriots in exchange for New England's first and third-round picks. New Orleans used those picks to select future All-Pros Ryan Ramczyk and Trey Hendrickson, while the Patriots forfeited their pick due to Deflategate punishments.
Cooks had 1,082 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in New England that season and appeared in the Patriots' Super Bowl LII loss, but was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 where he spent two seasons and appeared in the team's Super Bowl LIII loss. He has been traded four times total -- landing with the Houston Texans in 2020 and then with the Cowboys in 2023 through the 2024 season.
Cooks said he has "no regrets at all" about how his first stint with the Saints ended. He has always maintained there was no bad blood between himself and the organization, despite his frustration with his role in the offense toward the end of the 2016 season.
After failing to get a target in the Saints' win against the Rams in Week 12 of the 2016 season, he expressed his desire to be more than a deep threat, and said he felt he had to voice his opinion because "closed mouths don't get fed." Three weeks later, he had seven catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals -- one of the best games of his career.
Cooks said after the trade a lot of things got misconstrued, but he had only appreciative things to say about then-coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis in 2017 and beyond.
Cooks wasn't sure exactly what to expect in free agency. He knew he wanted to play with a team he that could make him better with a quarterback he believed in.
"I say this more so, just from a confidence level, not overconfident, but I believe what I bring to a team and I wasn't surprised that Saints and others wanted to sign me," Cooks said. "Mickey and I have got a lot of respect for one another ... It's just all part of it. ... I was young, I was a kid back then and I don't regret anything. I truly don't. I've left and had a lot of success. They had a lot of success and it's just great that you can point to an example where truly a bridge isn't burned because obviously if that was the case, they wouldn't be calling back and I wouldn't be going back."
Because he had never been through free agency, Cooks wasn't sure exactly what to expect. He knew he wanted to play with a team he felt could make him better and with a quarterback he believed in.
"[Quarterback] Derek [Carr], somebody I truly believe in, we're in the same class and I think there's some great stuff that can happen there between us all," Cooks said. "Obviously, the pieces around them got to continue to be better and stay healthy."
The addition of Ted Wrath, the Saints' new director of sports science, appealed to him after their paths crossed with the Rams. Cooks also said wide receivers coach Keith Williams played a big part in his signing.
Williams worked at Fresno State when he tried to recruit a 17-year-old Cooks, who chose Oregon State instead.
"I just believe in his coaching style, his mentality. He brings the best out of his players," Cooks said. "I've got a lot of respect from him, and he's from the same city. So I think that's a cool, unique connection there as well."
When Cooks arrived at the Saints' facility to sign his contract last week, he said it felt like a full circle moment for him.
"Walking the hallways, it was special, definitely, because last time, no wife, no kids," Cooks told ESPN. "This time around I got a wife and kids hopping out as well. ... It was a great feeling."
Some things felt familiar as he pulled up to his old parking space. Others were completely different -- the locker room had been renovated after his departure in 2017; the new cafeteria was finished in 2024. Defensive end Cameron Jordan was the only player still left on the roster from Cook's rookie year.
But with a large contingent of the front office still around, Cooks said it's going to be "great" to prove why they were right to re-sign him.
"I can see it now going through practice, going through games. People that were there at the front office when I was there as a kid, it's going to be like, 'Wow, there is a true thing as development and he's actually better than when we had him before.' I think that's cool, because obviously the longer you stay in this league, the more you learn, right? And you kind of transform as a player."
Cooks doesn't have specific goals in his mind about how long he wants to play or what numbers he wants to put up. He said he just wants to get to work and show he's still got it.
"My goal is to just show myself, the world, the caliber player that I am. ... Just going to play my best ball at Year 12 and putting that on tape," Cooks said. "I don't care about everybody else. It's more so proving to myself. As far as how long I want to play, I want to play many more years and as long as I continue to take care of my body and have a great process, I really believe in my heart that I can get that done."
